沐猴而冠
mù​hóu'ér​guàn

a monkey in a hat

  • created sense approved 沐猴而冠 · mù​hóu'ér​guàn · a monkey in a hat — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    沐猴而冠

    mù​hóu'ér​guàn

    a monkey in a hat

    (idiom) a worthless person in imposing attire; someone who puts on a show of dignity or high status but lacks the character, talent, or substance to back it up

    mù​hóu'ér​guān

    沐猴 (literal) → 沐猴 · mù​hóu · macaque 而 (literal) → 而 · ér · [adverbial linker] 冠 (literal) → 冠 · guàn · to put on a hat

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense